The invention relates generally to information technology, and deals more specifically with systems, methods and programs to schedule meetings.
Various program tools are known today to schedule meetings. For example, Lotus Notes Calendar tool (from International Business Machines Corporation) allows a user to identify the prospective invitees for the meeting and then query the tool for dates and times when all of the prospective invitees are available to meet. The tool determines the availability based on other meetings or absences previously scheduled and recorded by the tool. Then, the user selects an available date and time. The user can request the meeting by conference call or in person, and in the latter case, specify the meeting location. While the foregoing scheduling tools are effective, in some cases, an in-person meeting is needed but not convenient because of the distance between the invitees.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to schedule meetings at times and locations that are convenient for the invitees.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique to effectively remind a person to do something.